Mild at Heart Revisited

When the wife went to a women's Bible study it seemed more than appropriate to babysit the laundry and watch Fight Club. No, I didn't do the latter to overcompensate for the former. I'd only seen the movie once a few years ago, and the message was lost on me. But this time I notice an Eldridge-esque message to it. There were at least some intersections here and there.

Total intersections between Wild at Heart and Fight Club were lines like "we were raised by women", and likening God to a man, or better yet, a father figure. How I missed what this movie was about the first time I'll never know.

Differences were places that made more sense in the movie than in the book. Tyler Durton blames consumerism for the problem. Gen X men apparently know way more than they should about the perfect Ikea apartment. This seems true in an age when most guys seem inclined to play video games so we can pretend to have adventures instead of interracting with others and making our own. It all feeds into the cycle of buying stuff to look good and to forget about how despondent that makes us.

Wild at Heart, while encouraging more adventure, does not discourage consumerism. He seems to blame everything on good manners. I can't totally agree with that as good manners don't exploit as many people as a Playstation 2 or the next fashion line.

Unfortunately, both seem to use "hit me as hard as you can" as a solution. Both would pick a fight with Ghandi. And both would forget what true strength is.

Fight Club hints at it. Durton muses on the shameful knowledge gen X men share and names issues of better value, such as world hunger. The satirical edge to the film forgets this immediately and moves to extreme violence. Unfortunately, it's too believable.

I never finished the movie. It was late, and I was tired, so I switched to "The Deadliest Catch" on the Discovery Channel. I admired the courage and sacrifice of those willing to suffer injury and danger of worse to feed others. Seafood is so common it's easy to overlook the difficulties involved in obtaining it. I should watch this show more often.

I thought about the randomness of the evening as I hung up my shirts. Did I feel like Eldridge and Durton? Or did I just shrug at difficulty and accept it as part of my job? Nothing seemed to fit.

In the end, it's a blessing not to have enough things to own you. I never wonder what kind of dining set defines me as a person. On the other hand, I don't worry about being "too nice". Social conventions are there for a reason.

The shirts all hung up and the lint trap cleaned, I decided I wasn't bored or whatever you call the Durton/Eldridge syndrome. I found that if you are where you're supposed to be, you never really are.